Sky Deutschland CEO Steps Down, Devesh Raj to Take Over

Carsten Schmidt has decided to step down as CEO of Sky Deutschland, with Devesh Raj to take over the role.

Schmidt’s departure is effective December 31. He will remain with the company as senior advisor in 2020. He will hand the position over to Raj, who has served as Sky COO for Continental Europe and as interim chief commercial officer at Sky Deutschland since summer 2019. Schmidt and Raj will continue to work very closely together over the next months.

Schmidt has held a number of positions in senior management at Sky Deutschland over the past 20 years, including the last four and a half years as CEO.

Prior to Sky, Raj spent five years as senior VP of strategic and financial planning at Comcast/NBCUniversal in the U.S.

Raj will become CEO of Sky Deutschland on January 1, 2020, and will report to Andrea Zappia, Sky CEO for Continental Europe.

Zappia said: “I want to personally thank Carsten who has been a major contributor to Sky’s growth and success over two decades, displaying strong leadership and great dedication. The company now has over five million customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and a strong team and a business that is ready to make the most of the opportunities of the future. Having worked side by side with Devesh over the past six months, I have appreciated his qualities and I am confident we have found an ideal successor to lead Sky Deutschland into its next phase of growth.”

Schmidt commented: “It has always been my goal to ensure an optimal transition. The current timing and our personnel structure guarantee exactly this. I look back on the last 20 years with great satisfaction. I would like to thank the entire Sky team for their passion and support over the years. I wish Devesh every success and will support him in the coming months. Of course, this applies in particular to the upcoming Bundesliga rights tender.”

Raj added: “Having spent the past few months getting to know Sky well, I am tremendously excited about this new role. Sky Deutschland is ideally positioned in a competitive market environment. I look forward to building on this foundation to grow the business further.”